BOLDFACE NAMES

By Marc Santora

Published: December 31, 2002

From Broadway to Baltimore?

''Baltimore suffers from a case of pathological modesty,'' said its mayor, MARTIN O'MALLEY, below. Mayor O'Malley, who is often photographed in his trademark muscle T-shirt as the lead singer of the band O'Malley's March, suffers no such ailment. But last week, attending the Broadway version of ''Hairspray,'' he was more interested in promoting his city than himself. ''We're hoping that this might be an entree for us to let people know that there is something to see in Baltimore,'' he said. ''Maybe it will spike a little interest.''

Mayor O'Malley's staff has created a promotional advertisement pegged to the play. ''See the city that inspired the show,'' it says, next to a photograph of JOHN WATERS, who wrote and directed the film that inspired the musical. (Mr. Waters would have probably found it hard to believe that he would someday be a symbol of Baltimore when he was directing ''Pink Flamingos'' in 1972.)

The mayor is eagerly awaiting the opening of the touring show of ''Hairspray,'' which might have its premiere in Baltimore next fall, although that has not been announced. Waiting backstage to meet the cast, Mr. O'Malley hummed the opening song, ''Good Morning, Baltimore,'' and complimented MARISSA JARET WINOKUR, a New York native who stars as Tracy Turnblad, on her Baltimorisms. HARVEY FIERSTEIN, who plays Tracy's mother, Edna Turnblad, said he added some Baltimorisms of his own. ''I stuck all the 'huns' in the show,'' Mr. Fierstein said. But he admitted that he had never been to Baltimore. Behind Mr. O'Malley's back, he mouthed, ''I'm scared.''

Risky and Risqué Business

Dressing the women of New York is risky business, says HENRY SCHICKERLING, who has just opened a store, Tosca Couture, in Manhattan. ''You have got to learn about them,'' he said. ''It is quite different than the European look.''

Mr. Schickerling, who has also worked in Milan and London, added that ''European women do not really care as much about their bodies,'' while New York women are fairly obsessed with them.

When he was asked to design the dress that LIBBY PATAKI, below, will wear at her husband's inauguration this week, Mr. Schickerling faced a different problem, he said. ''You have to make sure you don't offend anyone,'' he said. ''It can't be cut too low, too daring or too fitted.''

Mr. Schickerling pointed to the disastrous outfit Princess Diana wore on her first public outing with PRINCE CHARLES. She was wearing a black velvet dress, and when she got out of the car, ''you could practically see her navel,'' he said.

Fortunately, he said, Mrs. Pataki had a pretty good idea what she wanted. She will be wearing a Bordeaux-colored suit of woolen silk with a burgundy velvet collar and matching cuffs.

What About Bob?

TODD HAYNES, the director of ''Far From Heaven,'' for which JULIANNE MOORE has a Golden Globe nomination as best actress for her portrayal of a dissatisfied 1950's housewife, said he is making a movie about BOB DYLAN with no Bob Dylan.

Huh?

''There won't be a person playing Bob Dylan,'' Mr. Haynes said. ''It'll be a cluster of characters who are all sort of Dylan and not Dylan, whose stories will be told simultaneously and they'll be intercutting between them in different styles.''

How did Mr. Dylan like the concept? ''He liked the idea, and he said he would give us permission to use his music and references to his life,'' Mr. Haynes said. That is fortunate.

Mr. Haynes's movie ''Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story'' (1987) never got released because Richard Carpenter would not give him permission to use the music on the soundtrack. Mr. Haynes also described his ''lovely relations'' with DAVID BOWIE later when he was trying to make ''Velvet Goldmine'' (1998), about a 1970's rock star who was loosely based on Mr. Bowie. Trying to get permission to use any Bowie music was a nightmare, Mr. Haynes said.

''I haven't had a good track record with music licensing,'' he said with a sigh.